GiveDirectly provides unconditional cash transfers via cell phone to some of the poorest families in Kenya. Households are selected using criteria such as proximity to public services and quality of housing. Selected households are provided with SIM cards if they do not have one. GiveDirectly then transfers $1,000 over one to two years to the chosen households using a Kenyan mobile payment system, and the recipients are free to use the money however they need to.
Why donate to them?
GiveWell, widely considered the most rigorous charity evaluator in the world, recommends only three top charities of which GiveDirectly is one. Cash transfers are relatively well studied and the research is uniformly positive. Several studies have found that cash transfers improve child health and schooling, while savings and investment rates are typically high. Targeting the extreme poor—recipients live on $0.65 a day on average—means that GiveDirectly can dramatically affect livelihood. The organization is committed to transparently tracking and improving their effectiveness through randomized controlled trials on their work (the “gold standard” in social sciences research.) The team has strong experience in international development, economics, policy analysis and program evaluation, and in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors. The charity’s model is also built to be able to scale up if funds are available.Frequently Asked Questions
1. How will GiveDirectly use my donation? At least ninety cents of every dollar donated is given directly to the poor. The remainder is spent on enrollment, transfer, and follow-up costs.2. How will recipients use my donation? The most popular self-reported use of funds is the purchase of a metal roof for an average cost of $250. These roofs keep out rain better than thatched roofs, and do not require maintenance. Other uses include buying food ($200/year for one adult), education expenses ($200/year for secondary school) and starting businesses. Spending on alcohol and tobacco at most, increases in proportion with other spending and most studies find no effect on the number of hours worked.
3. What about corruption? GiveDirectly has rigorous auditing processes, which have uncovered ineligible households in 1% of cases and bribe requests in 0% of cases.
4. Don’t the neighbours get jealous? When asked, 15% of recipient households reported tension in their communities, but no one reported violence as a result of the transfer.
5. Why doesn’t GiveDirectly make micro-loans? GiveWell believes that outright gifts are a more effective way to lift people out of poverty than micro-loans, which have to be paid back.
6. Would my donation be tax-deductible? GiveDirectly has 501(c)(3) status in the United States.
UK donors can make a tax-deductible donation to the Giving What We Can Trust to support GiveDirectly; donations by UK tax-payers via the trust are eligible for Gift Aid.
Canadian donors giving over $5,000 can donate tax-deductible via GiveWell, subject to a 10% deduction for costs incurred by Tides Canada.
7. If they’re so wonderful, why haven’t I heard of them before? GiveDirectly is a relatively young charity—they made their first cash transfer in 2008.
